Dragon Age: The Shield and the Bow
by SharpRevan
Summary: My first Fan Fiction! Most likely terrible. Any way follow the story of Aedan Cousland and Lyna Mahariel as they fight as Grey Wardens against the Fifth Blight. Pairings: M!Cousland/F!Mahariel (Main focus), F!Surana/Alistair (Mentioned). Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age; Bioware has that prestigous honour.


For Lyna Mahariel, there could be nothing worse than a Shemlen noble. So when she heard that one of the new recruits that she will be working with was the second son of the Teyrn of Highever, to say she was angry was a gross understatement. Duncan said that they have to work together but Lyna was really considering gutting this human the moment he said he was a human noble. Strangely enough this human isn't racist against elves. But maybe he was being modest considering that out of the two elven companions with him one is a human hating archer while the other is a very powerful mage. Regardless Lyna doesn't trust this Aedan one bit. The only person she trusts out of the entire group was Neria Surana, and even then Lyna only trusts her so far. "Hey Dalish," Aedan said, "Could you please hurry up the pace. I don't want to tell Duncan that you got lost in the wilds."  
"How about you stop calling me Dalish Shemlen?" Lyna retorted.  
"Well," said Alistair sarcastically, "Nice to know that two of the recruits are getting on so well."  
"No offense Dalish," Aedan said, ignoring Alistair, "But I need to know your name so I could stop calling you Dalish."  
"As much as it is fun to see you two flirt with each other," Alistair said, ignoring the glares from Aedan and Lyna, "But we have company." Just then a Hurlock Alpha signalled three Hurlock archers and five Hurlock swordsmen to attack the group of Grey Warden recruits. Lyna got out her bow and aimed at one of the charging Hurlocks. She let lose one of her arrows towards the fiend where it hit its target: the unprotected neck of the Darkspawn creature. Ser Jory swung his great sword at another fiend while Daveth slit the neck of another Hurlock swordsman. Neria and Alistair were back-to-back while facing off three Hurlocks. Aedan was charging the Alpha, challenging him to battle. Lyna aimed her bow at one of the Archers and fired the arrow at the creatures head. She drew another arrow and fired that one at the other archer's head. Lyna took a quick look at Aedan, who was losing his battle against the Alpha. Aedan was trying to match the Alpha's brute strength but it is not working. Lyna drew another arrow and tried to aim it at the Hurlocks head. However Aedan's head was in the way. Lyna looked for another weak spot on the Alpha's body but the only thing she could hit are its legs. Lyna aimed her arrow at the Alpha's leg and let the arrow lose. The arrow hit its mark and the Darkspawn leader growled in pain, giving Aedan enough time to swing his sword at the Alpha's neck, decapitating the Hurlock. Aedan looked back to the Dalish Archer and nodded thanks before he looked at the last Darkspawn archer, who was aiming his longbow at Lyna. Lyna knew that she would die then and there because she wouldn't have enough time to draw her own arrow before getting hit. But just before the archer fired its bow a figure landed in between the archer and its intended target. The arrow hit Aedan's shield, leaving a tiny scratch on the finely crafted object. Lyna then slid across to her right and aimed and fired her bow at the archer, hitting it squarely in the eyeball. After that battle Lyna walked up to Aedan and reluctantly said, "Thank you Shemlen."  
"No need milady," Aedan said with a small smile, "Glad I could help. Oh and thank you for your help. You Dalish folk are indeed very skilled with those bows." Aedan walked towards Alistair to talk about the new vials of blood they 'acquired' from the previous engagement. _Maybe not all Shemlens are as bad as the stories make them out to be_, Lyna thought before Neria yelled her name out to hurry it up.

After that fantastic trip to Morrigan and her mother (sarcasm intended), Aedan and Lyna (now that Aedan finally knows the name of the Dalish) finished talking to the hound carer about curing the sick Mabari. "I think that hound has imprinted himself on you," Aedan said as he walks towards the temple, ready for the joining. "You mean I have a dog," Lyna asked, "similar to your mongrel, obeying me?"  
"Hey! Cara is not a mongrel! She is a pure bred Mabari," Aedan said with a small smile. Lyna laughed, causing Aedan to say, "I, a human, have made a Dalish laugh. Is the Blight over already?"  
"Well," Lyna said with a smile, "I am not so much against Shemlen now as I was about one week ago."  
"Obviously still enough to call us Shemlen."  
"Only the ones that deserve it." The two Grey Warden recruits made it to the temple where Daveth and Jory were waiting. Soon Neria and Alistair arrived, listening to the conversation between the knight and the pickpocket. About a minute later Duncan arrived and explained the true nature of the Joining; that in order to become Grey Wardens they have to drink Darkspawn blood. Lyna went first, due to her Taint slowly killing her and survived, albeit she fell unconscious. Then Neria (_Ladies first huh? _Aedan thought) drunk the Darkspawn blood, survived and, like Lyna, fell unconscious. Then it was Daveth's turn. He was not so lucky as the Taint killed him. Jory's turn was next, however the cowardly knight attempted to turn away from the Joining and Duncan, keeping the Joining a secret, killed him. Now it was Aedan's turn. _Great, if I drink this then there is a 50/50 chance of living. If I don't Duncan will kill me. Great odds._ Aedan drunk from the cup while Duncan said, "From this day forth you are a Grey Warden." And then the world went dark as Aedan saw a high dragon flying towards him and roared.


End file.
